An
interesting thing is happening in the world of international cinema, which will
have an effect of the type of films which will come out of Hollywood in the near future. Foreign films
have long been unfairly lumped together, with the assumption that all subtitled
movies must also be character-driven and void of the predictable pitfalls
paired with genre filmmaking. When American audiences hear “French film” they
still think of Jean-Luc Godard, not Luc Besson. While realism is still achieved
in many European films, lately there are just as likely to be successful genre
films being made. These films provide an opportunity for homegrown
blockbusters, not to mention the attention it attracts for Hollywood
studios. Successful genre films are quickly remade, and the most promising
filmmakers are often also hired to direct a Hollywood
blockbuster as a result of this success.

It
should come as no surprise that the two national cinemas which have provided
some of Hollywood’s
latest promising directors are also among the most self reliant. When talking
about Danish film in the last decade, it is inevitable that Dogme 95 comes into
the conversation as a predominant force in Denmark and around the world.Dogme, however minimal a movement in reality,
caused such an uproar in conception that it entirely overshadowed a new wave of
cinema in Denmark which began with Ole Bornedal’s thrill Night Watch (1994), a film “which heralded a wave of genre films
about desperate male protagonists in Danish urban environments, such as Nicolas
Winding Refn’s Pusher (1996) and Bleeder (1999) and Thomas Vinterberg’s
the Greatest Heroes (1996).”[1]

This movement of
strong genre filmmakers has resulted in many talented Scandinavians finding Hollywood a good match
for future collaborations. Adam Neutzsky-Wulff is the latest of these talented
writer/directors, whose debut feature is available on DVD today. Starring
William Baldwin, Estella Warren and Sarah Butler, The Stranger Within premiered at the 2013 Berlin Film Festival (as The Stranger Inside),
produced by Michael Aoun of Drama Deluxe. I sat down for a quick chat with
Adam, discussing the difficulties of the shoot, future projects and personal
filmmaking influences. More than anything else, it was the proud combination of
American and European influence in a man with the same heritage as Ingmar
Bergman which came through in my conversation with Adam.

Ryan Izay: First
off, I would love to hear about your influences for The Stranger Within. When you were writing the screenplay, were
there any films you watched that set your mind down any particular path?

Adam Neutzsky-Wulff: I’ve
always been quite a big fan of the psychological thriller, particularly Stanley
Kubrick’s work; The Shining, and also
all of the 90s thrillers, like What Lies
Beneath. Additionally, there are some elements of Bergman as well,
obviously because I’m Scandinavian. I really wanted to do something that was a
combination of the Bergmanesque and something very driven in the American
Hollywood sense.

R.I.: I was
definitely able to see the 90s psychological thriller’s influence. That
definitely shined through for me.

Neutzsky-Wulff: We
really need those. They aren’t really out there any more, so I think this film
will be a revival for the genre.

R.I.: Absolutely.
What about your visual influences for the film? Was that more the 90s Hollywood thriller or your Scandinavian background
influencing your style of filmmaking?

Neutzsky-Wulff: A
combination, I would say. I’m a huge fan of the Hollywood
thriller, and the American take on the thriller, but also the urbanesque style
we have here is also very close to my heart. The main reason for the film’s
special style is very often because this genre—or a lot of movies I watch—don’t
really have establishing shots. You don’t really see where we are. We want to
get the surroundings. That’s why all of the big shots in the film have a
dynamic between showing where we are and then the close-up on the actors as
they are going through this. We want to get to see where they are within the
film, especially for the Emily character. The turmoil and what she is going
through and then the dynamics of those two, I’d say. My father was a writer,
and he sat me down when I was like four or five years old to watch all the
American classics. He showed me early Spielberg and old Hitchcock and Kubrick.
I’m really influenced by them, even more so than their European counterparts,
even though I’m European.

R.I.: Do you have
a favorite film? Not necessarily one which influenced The Stranger Within, but more of a personal favorite?

Neutzsky-Wulff: I
do. It’s funny because everybody asks me that, and a couple years ago I had a
really hard time answering. But today Once
Upon a Time in America is my all-time favorite. It’s a coming-of age story,
it’s about friendship, it’s about betrayal, and it’s about the questions you
have during life, making wrong choices

R.I.: Have you
any aspirations to make your own gangster film?

Neutzsky-Wulff: Yeah,
I do. My partner who produced The
Stranger Within at Drama Deluxe also loves the genre. And I love The Godfather, as well, of course. So I
would love to work in that genre, but our next movie will be a drama. Not a
gangster film at all, but it’s about friendship and betrayal and what happens
to you when you make some really bad life choices, and all the emotions that
come with that. But yeah, I would love to do something eventually.

R.I: Have you
made any casting or location decisions on your next film?

Neutzsky-Wulff: Yeah,
I think the next film will definitely be shot in New York and it will be in the genre of a
film like The Firm. Another 90s movie… [chuckles] And then also with elements
somewhat like Silver Linings Playbook.
I love those kind of films.

R.I.: Is there a
courtroom aspect to the storyline?

Neutzsky-Wulff: There’s
a small courtroom aspect, but it’s more of a story about fathers and sons and
how if you make poor life choices and how it can affect a young person when
they don’t grow up right. Hopefully that will start beginning of next year.

R.I.: Is this an
original screenplay?

Neutzsky-Wulff: No, it’s adapted. It’s actually a screenplay
done by another Dane, adapted. Later on it will be shot in New York, but it’s a Danish screenplay. But its
just more interesting set in America
because in Denmark
the difference between rich and poor class is not that big. Things are more
disastrous in the American society right now, but on the other hand that is
what I love about America.
There are chances of aspiring to get out of that, while coming from humble
beginnings, a humble start. I think it’s really fascinating.

R.I.: Will this
be your first time shooting in the States, or was a portion of The Stranger Within also shot in New York?

Neutzsky-Wulff: Yeah,
but it was only of the exteriors, actually. Most of the interiors were shot in Mallorca,
but made to look like New York, but this next
film will actually have the budget to shoot in New York.

R.I.: Did you
shoot in Denmark
as well?

Neutzsky-Wulff: All
the kidnapping sequence was done in a factory in Copenhagen.

R.I.: One of the
film’s more harrowing sequences. Were there any horror influences that inspired
that section?

Neutzsky-Wulff: Yes.
Some of it, I think, comes from my love of the old Hammer horror that I grew up
on. I grew up on British genre films as well. I was probably too young to watch
those films. [laughs] But that’s probably what you pick up on most in that
sequence.

R.I.: That
sequence also has some of the film’s more powerful acting from your lead. I
would love to hear how you attached Estella Warren to the role of Emily.

Neutzsky-Wulff: We
went to Hollywood
and talked to other actresses, and there were others that we loved but Estella
was the one who brought frailty to the part. It was very essential that we
needed to have someone that would be able to believably crack. I saw the screen
test and I’m convinced that if Hitchcock were alive today he would love Estella
Warren. He would love the frailty that she has.

R.I.: From an
actor’s perspective, the kidnapping sequence must have been the most dreaded shooting
day, but was there a day that was particularly difficult for you as the
director?

Neutzsky-Wulff: There’s
the one scene where Estella and Billy are going to the island. It’s very simple
what you see, but when we shot it there were a lot of waves there. We both know
I’m not a sailor, and when we got out of the harbor we were just holding onto
the camera and people got seasick. It was awful. The waves out there were just
insane.

R.I. If you could
have any filmmaker’s career, whose would it be?

Neutzsky-Wulff: Stanley Kubrick, I would
have to say. I think he was a really brilliant director.

Those who have
heard of Simon Rumley in America
are likely to be familiar with his work in horror anthologies above all else.
Though his psychological thriller Red,
White and Blue was met with acclaim, we have only seen installments among
many other directors since then. The last portion of Little Deaths was
Rumley’s, and one of the most tasteless sequences of The ABCs of Death also
belongs to this British filmmaker. These films were my first impression of Rumley
as a filmmaker, which is a shame.

I would have gone ahead thinking that
he was just another tasteless horror director had I not been introduced to
these three independent British films. He has fallen a great deal as an artist
with the increase of a budget and international acclaim, which is apparent by
the fact that these three lower-than-low budget films are far more engaging. These
films are dialogue heavy and solidly acted, while his latest additions to
cinema have been less thought-provoking and more visceral. These three films
set in 1990s London
are inspired by Richard Linklater’s first three films, Slacker, Dazed and Confused
and Before Sunrise, though I found
there to be aspects of Mike Leigh’s Naked
and some of John Cassavetes’ classics.

The first film is Strong Language, which was released in 2000
and almost appears to be a documentary at first. The film is a boldly simple
premise which is only completely clear in the final moments of the film,
allowing for a minimal budget and some of the simplest camera set-ups you could
imagine. Though there are seventeen characters in the film, none appear
together on camera. The entire film is comprised of naturalistic appearing
interviews, with characters discussing a seemingly random variety of topics
directly to the camera. The most mysterious character tells a story as the
eclectic group of young people prattle on, connected only once the story is
complete. The DVD for Strong Language
includes a premiere featurette and the film’s trailer.

The Truth Game
(2001) is a foray into more traditional independent cinema, though it contains
the same type of dialogue-heavy scenes as Strong
Language. This time they are dialogues instead of monologues, and the
random ignorant statements which are spoken by certain characters can now be
reprimanded. Three couples in their 30s gather for a dinner party in London, discussing a
variety of topics with bold honesty while also retaining certain lies from
those they are meant to care about the most. There are many revelations
throughout the evening, involving adultery, illness and drugs. Other secrets go
unspoken. This film shows strength for dialogue in Rumley’s work, matched by a
great cast of actors (Paul Blackthorne, Tania Emery, Thomas Fisher, Selina
Giles, Stuart Laing and Wendy Wason). The DVD for The Truth Game includes a director’s commentary a premiere
featurette.

The final film is Club Le Monde (2002), which is clearly
the most polished filmmaking with the same well-written dialogue fueling a
plot-free narrative. Club Le Monde is full of short vignettes and storylines of
various characters out for an evening of drinking, drugs, sex and occasional
dancing at a London
club in 1993. It is easy to see a comparison between this film and Dazed and Confused. Though both take on
different places and time periods, both attempt the same immersion into the
experience through a variety of expected characters and typical conversations.
The DVD includes a director’s commentary, premiere party footage, and even a
few deleted scenes. There is also a trailer.

The DVD and
Blu-ray release of the third season of “The Walking Dead” has a release date
just over two weeks before the television premiere of the fourth season, giving
new fans plenty of time to catch up on the series. It took me three days to
watch all sixteen season three episodes, and that was only because I forced
myself to spread it out some. I probably could have watched the entire season
in one sitting if life didn’t interfere. A single episode of previous seasons
of “The Walking Dead” was better than most zombie films in the last five years,
but this show has elevated its action and storyline to something far greater
than just the typical zombie apocalypse tale. This series is not just an
inspiration to the genre; it is a triumph for the medium of television.

At the beginning of the third season
we join Rick and the survivors as silent nomads, drifting from vacant house to
vacant house with hopes of scavenging scraps of food and moments of rest before
forced to run. This method has survived them the winter, though it also has
them left weakened and disheartened. Their fortune turns around when they find
a remote prison, promising shelter and security they haven’t experienced since
the farm. This possession eventually brings another type of danger, when a
tyrant (David Morrissey) running a small town of survivors finds reason to make
enemies out of Rick and the group.

Part of what
makes this series so intense is its willingness to kill characters off without
a moment’s notice. These bold decisions give the perception that everything is
at stake and that anything could happen. The final episodes of this season have
more of a likelihood to include the demise of a longstanding character than
not, leaving few remaining from the first season’s cast. Whether it is by
zombie bite or bullet, there are more dangers this season than any before. The
new season brought the best villain of the series so far, as well as adding the
Kitano-wielding Michonne (Danai Gurira) to the cast of reliably good
characters.

The Blu-ray
release of season three includes audio commentaries on episodes 4, 5, 8, 9, and
15. The episodes are all fit onto four discs, with the fifth and final disc
reserved for the handful of deleted scenes and numerous featurettes. The
deleted scenes are all character based scenes of dialogue, none of which are
boring or unexpected. They mostly just seem like filler for what we already
know. The featurettes, on the other hand, are spectacular. As well as the brave
writing, this series features some incredibly daring practical effects devised
by producer and special effects guru, Greg Nicotero. Some of the featurettes
deal with the technical aspects of the show, while others are more fan-based,
just rehashing the popular storylines with cast and crew interviews.

I am always
pleasantly surprised to find a film take the unexpected narrative route,
especially with the large number of films I have seen in my decreasingly brief
existence. Shadow Dancer had me
thinking I knew what was going to happen at several points, only to take me in
another direction. The result was not quite as satisfying as I had hoped,
however. This is largely due to the fact that the audience is not permitted to
know what the characters are thinking, and often it appears as though they are
also uncertain. The result is some spectacular acting from leads Andrea
Riseborough and Clive Owen, who are forced to convey much without words beings
said, and a coldly distant narrative which never fully allows the audience to
care for them.

Set in 1990s,
Shadow Dancer opens in London
with an aborted IRA terrorist attack by our troubled protagonist, Collette
(Riseborough). Although Collette intentionally neglects to activate the bomb
and seems more entangled in the IRA through family ties than personal belief,
the MI5 officers who capture her waste no time manipulating the woman to become
an informant. Her handler, who she only knows as Mac (Owen) promises that he
will protect her and her son, though this leap of faith asks that Collette also
turn her back on her family in Belfast.

Shadow Dancer is based on the novel by
Tom Bradby, who also adapted the screenplay for director James Marsh (Man on Wire). This does play like a
story which was likely much better on the page, though strong performances all
around make for an engaging 100 minutes even when the story seems aimless. The
Blu-ray release includes a behind-the-scenes featurette, as well as cast and
crew interviews and a short promotional featurette made for AXS TV.

Regardless of
the decades that have passed since the horrific atrocities of the Nazi
Holocaust in Europe, stories of inspirational
survival continue to sprout up. I suppose this is a silver lining in the
tragedy that befell so many families; that there were some who were able to
persevere and survive. Entire family trees exist because of the bold decisions
a few made in order to avoid entering the ghettos, not to mention the
concentration camps.

In October of
1942, Esther Stermer and her various immediate and distant family members were
forced to enter caves outside of their city in order to avoid the Nazis. They
were joined by many other families and eventually caught, but were able to
escape before being sent away for good. They then found another cave which had
never been discovered, and it had its own water supply to help decrease any
need to leave shelter. The women and children lived in the cave for nearly a
year and a half, which is the longest recorded uninterrupted underground survival
period. The men would leave their hiding place only to seek out food, much of
which needed to be stolen discretely.

The story is
discovered by amateur cave explorer Chris Nicola comes across some of their
belongings in the first cave and decides to investigate. Much of the film is
told through interviews, however, and then the last section of the movie is
dedicated to the survivors who are able to return and see the caves this many
years later. One gentleman in his 90s brings his grand-daughter to see the
caves that he survived in, making for a moving revelation about the generations
of family members who are alive because of the bravely of those few.

The Blu-ray
release includes a bevy of spectacular bonus features, including the story of
several of the families after the war ended, and features of Nicola cave
exploring in the USA and in Slovakia. There
is also an additional Holocaust story and more footage with interviews about
additional topics, including more on the life in a cave. There are also photo
galleries and a trailer for the film.

Instead of the
revenge narrative which has seemed most common in Korean crime films in the
past decade or so, A Company Man
takes another approach with this thriller about a professional hit man. This
doesn’t necessarily ensure that the storyline is original, often resembling
numerous other box office hits. With a silently morally superior protagonist, A Company Man often resembles The Man From Nowhere in style and tone.

The boldest
choices that A Company Man makes in its narrative occur within the first ten
minutes, when we are exposed to the cold-hearted ruthlessness our protagonist
Hyeong-do (SO Ji-sub) is capable of. Unfortunately, the remainder of the film
shows the redeeming choices that this character makes, hardly appearing to be the
same man. Unable to continue the lifestyle of working as a hired killer,
Hyeong-do attempts to plan a way out of his employment with the ruthless
corporation dealing in death.

The storyline
advances toward familiar territory as our antihero becomes a hero, not only
longing to get out of the business but also providing help for the family
members of victims. His kind nature is what is meant to draw the audience into
caring about him as the corporations assassins are also drawn in to eliminate
him and provide some of the films most visceral thrills.

The Blu-ray
includes a making-of featurette and a trailer, though the high definition
presentation of the film is more impressive than any extras. This is an
entertaining action thriller, albeit one which is easily forgettable among many
other Korean films.

As engaging as
the premise for The Reluctant
Fundamentalist is, I am afraid it was made just a little too late for
American audiences to care. There was a wave of post-9/11 dramas dealing with
the aftermath of the tragic terrorist attacks, and The Reluctant Fundamentalist
would have been a spectacular follow-up to those films, but instead comes when
audiences seem to be straying further from this dark period of recent American
history. That being said, director Mira Nair is able to breathe as much life as
the narrative can hold with energetic filmmaking.

Adapted from the
novel by Mohsin Hamid, The Reluctant
Fundamentalist tells the story of a Pakistani professor who the CIA
suspects of involvement in the kidnapping of an American academic. A reporter
(Liev Schreiber) is sent to interview Professor Changez (Riz Ahmed) in order to
determine his involvement, and much of the film is flashbacks as the Pakistani
man explains his journey to the American reporter.

There is a tense
aspect in the storyline dealing with the mystery of Changez’ involvement in the
kidnapping and the reporter’s ability to escape unharmed, but much of the movie
deals with much more personal elements. We are told through flashbacks of the
young ambitious journey Changez took to the United
States, studying and eventually acquiring a desired
career on Wall Street before the attacks on the United States made the entire world
seem harsher. We watch as the city turns against Changez because of the way he
looks, and the way that it turns him into a bitter person. The main focus for
this alteration in his personality is shown through the devastation of two
significant relationships; the one he has with an American artist (Kate Hudson)
who uses him as the inspiration for her artwork, and his boss and mentor
(Kiefer Sutherland).

At times The
Reluctant Fundamentalist is altogether engaging, though the pieces of the film
don’t all seem to come together fluidly. It ends up feeling like a series of
vignettes involving the same person, but some of the variation in the film’s
mood shift too much for one film to contain. It attempts to be a drama, but at
times has aspirations to be a thriller. These sequences aren’t bad, but don’t
feel as though they belong in the same film as the rest.

The Blu-ray
special features includes a making-of featurette and a trailer.

I grew up loving
horror, actually desiring the films which were able to get under my skin. When
I was too young for the bloodier films, I filled up on classic horror movies:
creature films from Cold War paranoia, Depression-era Universal monster movies,
all the way up to the beginning of the slasher films with Michael Powell’s Peeping Tom and Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. The truly daring movies all have
numerous copycats, though rarely are they as engaging as the originals. Wither does well not to attempt to
reinvent the wheel, but as a Swedish take on the ‘cabin-in-the-woods’ narrative
it is able to offer an original style to that old familiar bloodbath.

Made before the
2013 remake of Evil Dead, Wither
could easily be an unofficial remake in many regards, though is a different
reason for the demonic attacks on a group of viral young adults on a getaway in
the woods, based on Swedish mythology involving a creature which lives
underground. The storyline and its practical effects seem most inspired by Sam
Raimi’s cult classic and its sequels, as well as the Dario Argento produced
Italian films, Demons and Demons 2. A group of friends find
themselves fighting each other off once some sort of possession/contagion is
spread after a creature in the cellar is disturbed.

With plot
simplified and narrative somewhat predictable, much of the film comes down to
characters and the film’s bloodier sequences. The effects are flawlessly done,
never so flashy that they detract from the point of the sequence while always
elevated to an extreme level. By the end of the film, the cabin walls are
covered in blood from various battles between friends who have become possessed
and those still trying to survive. There are many predictable characters in
this film, though filmmakers Sonny Laguna and Tommy Wiklund throw a few
unexpected twists in these caricatures, especially those you think may survive.
The effect is not unlike the stoner’s escape from death in Joss Whedon produced
hit, Cabin in the Woods.

Though there
aren’t more than a handful of Swedish horror films, those which do exist are
compelling enough to anticipate more. Tomas Alfredson’s Let the Right One In
was solid enough for Hollywood
to snatch it up as a remake almost immediately. Though I don’t imagine Wither
needs an American remake, I am certain we will be seeing more from Laguna and
Wiklund in the future.

The DVD release
by Artsploitation Films comes with their standard booklet insert, which has an
intro paragraph from the filmmakers, an essay by Ryan Clark and an interview
with the filmmakers about the film’s combination of practical effects and CGI.
The disc bonus features include a behind-the-scenes featurette, deleted scenes
and a trailer gallery for Artsploitation Films.

The name Luc
Besson has always been synonymous with great action, whether as a director,
writer or even just producer. Although he has continued to attach his name to
solid action movies as producer, the upcoming action comedy, The Family, will be Besson’s first time
directing a Hollywood film in some time. Odder
yet are the films which have occupied his time most recently. From 2006’s Arthur and the Invisibles came two
additional films in the franchise based on popular children’s books. In 2010 he
also made this wonderful French family film, which plays somewhat like a quirky
French Indiana Jones.

The Extraordinary Adventures of Adéle
Blanc-sec is a fantasy-infused adventure set in the early part of the 20th
century with a female author protagonist who is an early feminist icon. Hoping
to find a way to save her comatose sister, Adéle (Louise Bourgoin) seeks out
the strange Professor Espérandieu (jacky Nercessian) who has found a way to
reanimate a dinosaur egg. Hoping that by reanimating the mummified doctor from
an Egyptian tomb she will find the answers to saving her sister, Adéle must
face numerous obstacles along the way.

The DVD features
include a dubbed version of the dialogue, so as to spare younger children the
task of reading the speedy French dialogue. The dubbing is good, and
appropriately silly at times with the film’s lighthearted fare. There is also
the original French tracks for the purists and multilingual. The special
features include a making-of featurette, as well as interviews with the cast
and a featurette about the music. There are also a few deleted scenes.

Filmmaker Yim Ho
was one of filmmakers to inspire what we now refer to as the Hong Kong New Wave
in the 1980s, with his film Red Dust
honored with a record twelve nominations at the Taiwan Golden Horse Festival.
With such acclaim from his earlier work, I couldn’t understand the less than
enthusiastic reception for Ho’s thirteenth film, Floating City. Although this film is not likely to inspire any new
movements in Chinese cinema, it is a solid drama and personal filmmaking done
without unnecessary melodrama.

The film tells
the story of a poor peasant boy in 1940s Hong Kong,
who is raised aboard a fishing boat until sent to work as a laborer. With
blue-eyes and slightly reddish hair, Bo Wah Chuen (Aaron Kwok) has many
questions about his origins, which his peasant parents refuse to answer. Though
his past is uncertain, the mixed race look allows for few advantages in Chuen’s
future. Ridiculed constantly for being a “half-breed,” Chuen works his way up
by learning English and becoming an engineer for the British colonies.

The success also
comes with a devoted wife and a passionate lover on the side, but somehow this
is still not enough to keep Chuen satisfied. Forever tormented about his past
and future, nothing seems enough for the man who is able to achieve what nobody
though possible from someone of his status. In some ways, we are never properly
allowed to penetrate Chuen’s exterior. There is much he leaves unsaid and
bottled in, leaving the audience on the outside as much as the women in his
life are.